Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Fethullah Gulen

Fethullah Gulen
Since the beginning of January there is an edit war for the "Fethullah Gulen" article. The article is about the Turkish Islamic/political leader Fethullah Gulen. The disaggrement in the article is a reflection of different views people have of him. One side to the edit war claims the text before the edit war was insulting to Gulen and those who sympathize with him, the other side, which includes me, claims the preedit war text contained the divergent views over Gulen and objectivity requires it stays that way. At the moment there is a long discussion in the relevant discussion page, but at points, due to the inefficient nature of the process, the discussion is repetitive and sometimes gets personal. Both sides believe mediation is the only way to go forward. I personally believe a mediator with the following qualifiations would greatly enhance the chances for success
 * 1) A mediator knowledgable about Turkish politics,Middle Eastern politics, secularism or Islamic movements
 * 2) A mediator who knows Turkish language since almost all the existing works on the subject is in Turkish. An alternative is to cooperate with the TUrkish moderators, since the same discussion is also going on in the Turkish version.Baroqqque 03:14, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

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As a side to this dispute I would like to add a coment here:

Yes, we both agree that meditation is the only way we can proceed in discussing the article. The statements by Mr. Barouqque fair enough above (except some statemnts like 'Gulen is a political leader'. He has similar misstatements in the article itself which is a reason for this dispute. The truth is he is an Islamic scholar). However, I would like to point out a concern of mine related to the qualifications of mediator:

It would be good that the mediator know about Turkish, Turkish Culture and so on. But I wouldn't agree on having a mediator among the Turkish moderators. We are having the same problem in Turkish Wikipedia and the problem cannot be resolved there as well. I should clearly add that some of the moderators (at least one of them permanently) there are acting with a great deal of harmony with Mr. Barouqque, and if one of these moderators assigned as a moderator, the process of meditation simply wouldn't work.

So, although knowing Turkish and Turkish Culture, etc. is a plus, the moderator should definitely be choosen carefully so that the moderator himeslf/herself is not bias. For that reason, I would prefer a moderator knowledgable about the issue or similar issues but not among the Turkish Wikipedi moderators. If there is no other way than choosing a moderator from Turkish Wiki moderators (I am not very sure about how the system is working here) the name of the moderator should be determined by the approval of both parties involved.

The bottom line is: The neutrality and objectivity of the moderator is the most important factor. The rest has secondary importance.

Thanks. Resid Gulerdem 03:32, 18 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Accept. Will assign a mediator shortly. Essjay  Talk •  Contact 04:57, 11 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm happy to take the case. However, I 1) know no Turkish, 2) know nothing about Turkish politics. There are not many mediators, and I don't think any match your qualifications (though I've asked, just in case). As my job is to try to get you to talk to each other, and not past each other, hopefully we can make some progress anyway. I can take the case either on the wiki or by group email &mdash; please let me know your preferences below. &mdash; Asbestos | Talk   (RFC)  00:16, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Mediation will proceed on Requests for mediation/Fethullah Gulen/Workshop. &mdash; Asbestos | Talk   (RFC)  21:09, 21 February 2006 (UTC)